Week 17: The Team I Love to Hate! Eagles vs. Cowboys

First of all, I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas and that you got to spend it with your family and friends to make precious memories that will last a lifetime. Our Christmas here at the Vagnoni household was wonderful as the kids, grandkids and the family gathered on Christmas Eve for a feast of feasts as it always is in the Vagnoni household. This year, as last, instead of having the family gathering in the Locker Room we had it across our driveway at our uncle Lou's home. As many of you know, he was extremely ill two years ago but thanks to all of our prayers to God and two wonderful doctors, Dr. Michael Abboud and Dr.Leif Christiansen, uncle Lou is doing great. It's blessings such as this that really helps you understand what is really important in life. It's not about how many gifts you receive or what they cost, it's about being with your family and your friends appreciating what they mean in your life. Material things will fade away and disappear in time, but precious memories will be etched in your mind forever, so enjoy your loved ones while you have them with you today.

Well last week, I was talking about how the Eagles defense looked like they were beat down with the biggest of ugly sticks while the offense excelled with Nick Foles at the helm. Christmas night the winds were blowing and baby it was cold outside to say the least and with that cold wind I think the Grinch must have blown into Lincoln Financial Field. It sure looked as though that the Grinch was trying his best to ruin our Christmas with some evil magic, judging the way our Eagles performed against the Oakland Raiders. This week, it was on the offensive side of the ball where the problem lied while the defense played lights out and were the main reason the Eagles came away with a win. Nick Foles played horrible and to his credit he said so himself at his press conference. He knows that has to change if the Birds hope to avoid going one and done in the playoffs. The bottom line though is the Eagles are sitting here today with the best record in all the NFL at 13 & 2 and have earned home field advantage throughout the playoffs which is a big deal.

Let's hope that the team does not waste this advantage that they worked so hard for and they come together to give all of Eagles Nation what we've been waiting for these many years — The Lombardi Trophy and A Parade Down Broad Street!

Three Things to Look for In This Week’s Game...

1. Much to Clean Up

New Year’s Eve marks the conclusion to the Eagles 2017/2018 regular season games and it's a game against the team that I love to hate — those Dallas Cowboys. It's funny how things can change from one season to the next as was the case last year when Dallas came into the "Linc" for the last game having the NFC East division title locked up. This year, it's the exact opposite with our Eagles clinching the division a couple of weeks ago, while Dallas was eliminated last Saturday with a spanking by the Seattle Seahawks. Although this is a meaningless game as far as standings go, it will be interesting to see how much playing time coach Doug Pederson gives his starting units. With Dallas being eliminated they would like nothing better than to beat up the Eagles so to hurt their chances come the playoffs. That being said though, the Eagles just have not looked in sync and have much to clean up before that first playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field. So, they're faced with some tough decisions leading up to this game. Does coach Pederson play his starting units a series or two to prevent any more injuries OR does he throw caution to the wind and play the starters the bulk of the game to try establish some cohesiveness? It's a dilemma for sure but one that a lot of other coaches in the NFL would love to be saddled with. I, for one, would like to see Nick Foles and the starting offense play the first half while working on getting their timing down which will do wonders to boost their confidence. On the defensive side of the ball, I would let the starters in for maybe a quarter or so and then get them off the field to prevent injuries.

2. Run Defense

With that egomaniac Jerry Jones calling the shots you never can tell how he will have Jason Garrett approach this meaningless game. Does he sit his star players to avoid any major injuries so that they're ready for the start of next season or is he going to want to satisfy his ego which is bigger than the entire state of Texas? If he plays his starters, look for plenty of runs by Ezekiel Elliott who looked pretty good last week after serving his six-game suspension. The Eagles although giving up big yardage to the Raiders Marshawn Lynch this past Sunday are still ranked near the top of the league in run defense so it will be interesting to watch how Garrett calls it. At the wide receiver position, Dallas has the ageless Jason Witten (actually the only Cowboy player I respect) at tight end and Cole Beasley, Terrance Williams and the much over rated Dez Bryant. As of this writing, the award for biggest cry baby in the NFL has Bryant leading in voting by a wide margin. Dallas fans, you might want to donate those #88 jerseys to Goodwill because Bryant will cost Dem Boyz something like seventeen million bucks next year and unless he takes a huge pay cut he'll be throwing his temper tantrums on another team’s sidelines in 2018. It will be a shame to see him leave Big "D" because he was so easy to cheer against! While I'm talking about players that are over rated you must put Dak Prescott into that category. Prescott was all the rage last season putting up good numbers while leading the Boys to a 13 & 3 record but as usual they lost their playoff game. This year Prescott was exposed for what he is and that's an ordinary quarterback and nothing more. In fact, Carson Wentz since ripping his ACL against the Rams has thrown more touchdowns (1) with 0 interceptions while Prescott has 0 touchdowns while throwing four interceptions. Also, Dak's leadership skills aren't that great either and he proved it because when Elliott was out serving his six-game suspension (beating up a young lady), Prescott folded like a cheap suit. At the end of last season, Dem Boyz fans were ready to anoint Prescott as the GOAT at the quarterback position and the "Hatchet" wishes to say to those fans — GIVE ME CARSON WENTZ & YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DAK PRESCOTT!!

3. Snowball Fight

There are so many questions leading into this game and it's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out. Will Doug Pederson rest or play his starters since the game means nothing to the Eagles? Will this be the last game that Jason Garrett ever coaches for the Dallas Cowboys? I sort of doubt it though since Garrett is a Jerry Jones puppet that does whatever Jones says. If we get the snow that so many forecasters are calling for this weekend — will the Eagles fans toss snowballs at the Cowboys players?

If governor Christie of New Jersey shows up in that ugly red sweater of his and sits with Jerry Jones or goes on the sidelines, will he also get blasted by flying snowballs? Interesting questions and will be fun to watch how they unfold for sure!

What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

We're going to be rocking in the new year here in the Locker Room with all of our Locker Room friends and we'll be keeping a close eye on all these questions for sure. I want to wish all of you nice folks a most Healthy and Happy New Year and I invite all of you to check in with me in two weeks as I take a look ahead at the Eagles first opponent in the upcoming playoffs. It could be the Rams, it could be the Seahawks, it could be the Saints or it could be the Panthers — we will soon find out.